The young adult's guide to Baltimore

Friday Five (Favorite Falltivities)

It’s that time of the year! Leaves are changing color, temperatures are cooler and anything and everything is flavored with pumpkin. Let’s cut to the chase and get to my favorite activities for autumn:

Celebrate my birthday! I turn 28 today and will be celebrating all weekend long. I’m a bit biased but I think late September is the BEST time of the year. We’ll be celebrating tonight with a nice dinner and celebrating more tomorrow at a winery.

Watch Football. Cheering on the Terps and Gamecocks on Saturdays and the Ravens on Sundays. Setting my fantasy lineup and trash talking my opponents. Making snacks for game day like zucchini pizza bites. Tailgating. Homecoming. Wine bras and grilling in the parking lot. In our house, fall means football and football means fall.

Visit the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but it deserves another mention. Held in Crownsville (outside Annapolis) every weekend from now until October 25, tickets are $19 for the first couple of weekends and $24 a person after that. Take in the sights and sounds of a medieval village while enjoying a fall beer (or hot spiced mead!) and a sweet potato pie. Or a turkey leg. Or cheesecake on a stick. Plus, there’s jousting which oddly enough is the state sport of Maryland.

Eat apple cider donuts. From the Apple House in Linden, Virginia. My family used to drive out to the country every fall and stop at the Apple House for their amazingly flavorful donuts. These babies are served warm with a delightful coating of cinnamon and sugar. Go there. Go there now.

Pick a pumpkin. Fall is not complete without a trip to a pumpkin patch and we may even have to visit Maryland’s Taylor Swift corn maze. Expect a roundup soon of all the great options in the area, but for now I leave you with these enormous pumpkins!

Linking up with Courtney, Mar and Cynthia for Friday Five and Heather for Friday Favorites. Check out the other fall faves out there on the interwebz!